The persecution of Protestants in France in the second half of
the 17th century gradually increased in strength, to the point when
mass movements of refugees began in Europe. One of the routes of
escape led to the Netherlands, and the records of many of these
people can still be found in the registers of the Walloon Churches of
Middelburg, Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, among others. The
background to this exodus has been extensively discussed by M.
Boucher (French Speakers at the Cape: The European Background,
publishers The University of South Africa in Pretoria, 1981).

The Dutch East India Company (or VOC) took the opportunity of
the influx of relatively well educated craftsmen to recruit settlers
for their colony at the Cape of Good Hope. Among the skills they took
with them were the cultivation of vines and production of wine. Only
about 200 emigrated, but they were to have a lasting effect on the
colony. For example, The "Fransche Hoek" of Cape Town literally means
the French Corner. Many of their farms were named for the land they
left behind (e.g. "La Provence", "La Brie", "Picardie",
"Versailles"). These last two belonged to two of my own ancestors,
the apothecary and hat-maker, Isaac Taillefer and the farmer, Pierre
Cronier.

The VOC maintained a policy of integration of the various
national groups. The French refugees at first had their own Pastor,
but this eventually stopped. The children were educated in Dutch, and
many of the names took on a Dutch spelling. Thus Cronier became
Cronje, and Nortier became Nortje. Others have retained their
original form.

The records of the early settlers are, in general, relatively
easy to find because the VOC controlled immigration. Indeed, books of
the family registers up to about the start of the 19th century have
been published. An older version (Genealogies of Old South African
Families by de Villiers & Pama) is gradually being expanded by J.A.
Heese and published in a series of volumes (South African
genealogies, vol 1 has A-C; vol 2 has D-G, vol 3 has H-I and vol 4
has J-K; publishers HRSC, Pretoria).

Boucher has listed most of the Huguenot refugees according to
their origins in France (where known), and I will continue that
sub-division here. Please note that this list may not be complete -
while the VOC records are extensive, the changing of names, and the
fact that some families stopped in the Netherlands and other
countries before moving on means that some may not be readily
apparent. Some names appear more than once as it's fairly obvious
that people with the same name seem to have arrived from different
areas, and are probably unrelated. While most arrived as refugees, a
number were in the employ of the V.O.C., possibly after migrating or
escaping from France. I've given some of the Africaans versions
in brackets. The names marked * are the ones I am interested in.